Ml{.  KAXKJWS  ADDIIENX. 


p *■ 


AN  ADDRESS 


BEFORE 


THE  SYNOD  OF  NEW  JERSEY, 


AT 


SCRANTON,  PENN., 


OCTOBER  21,  1857 ; 


Bt  william  RANKIN  Ju.  Esq.  . 

TKIASUKER  B.  F.  M. 


PUBLISHED  BT  BEQUEST  OP  THE  SYNOD. 


NEW  YORK: 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS, 
By  Edwabd  0.  Jexkins,  26  Feankfoet  Stbeet. 

1 85  7. 


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ADDRESS 


The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  during  the  past  year,  has  met 
with  a series  of  reverses. 

The  first,  in  the  order  of  time,  was  the  destruction  of  the  mission 
property  at  Canton,  in  the  bombardment  of  that  city  by  the  British 
forces  in  November  last.  Tliis  involved  the  loss  of  some  $5,000, 
the  breaking  up  of  the  schools,  and  the  closing  of  the  hospitals  and 
chapels.  The  brethren  who  have  taken  refuge  in  Macao,  and  Drs. 
Happer  and  Kerr  now  in  this  country,  have  as  yet  been  unable  to 
return  and  resume  their  labors,  which  they  are  all  anxiously  waiting 
to  do.  * 

The  second  reverse  I note,  is  the  suspension  of  the  mission  to  the  , 
Chinese  in  California  by  the  failure  of  health  and  return  home  of 
our  only  laborer  there.  Rev.  William  Speer.  This  mission  was 
commenced  in  1852,  and  proved  in  many  ways,  through  the  untiring 
and  diversified  labors  of  the  missionary,  a great  blessing  to  those 
whom  he  served.  It  was  unfortunate  that  its  existence  depended 
upon  the  health  of  a single  individual,  and  that  now  50,000  foreign- 
ers in  a sister  state,  whose  numbers  are  constantly  increasing,  are 
left  to  worship  in  their  heathen  temples  in  full  view  of  a Christian 
chapel,  that  was  built  at  great  expense  expressly  for  them,  and  is 
now  vacant.  • 

Third.  In  the  Treasurer’s  report  of  May  last,  a balance  of  $11,000 
was  transferred,  as  a debt,  to  the  account  of  the  present  year.  The 
General  Assembly  attempted  to  liquidate  this  debt  by  a special  col- 
lection among  its  members  and  the  churches.  The  attempt  has 
failed,  as  $6,500  of  it  yet  remains  to  embarrass  the  operations  of 
the  current  year.  This  extra  burflen  could  have  better  been  sus- 
tained almost  any  other  season  than  the  present  one. 

These  three  discouraging  facts  in  our  recent  experience,  if  stand- 
ing alone,  would  be  worthy  of  more  special  comment  on  this 
occasion.  They  seem  to  us,  however,  as  little  spots  in  our  sky,  indi- 
cating it  may  be  a frowning  providence,  in  view  of  that  black 


4 


storm-cloud  that  has  burst  in  terrific  fury  upon  the  largest  and  one 
of  the  oldest  and  most  promising  of  our  missionary  fields. 

It  is  just  twenty  years,  this  October,  since  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  held  its  first  meeting  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  and  became 
fairly  organized.  The  executive  officers  were  then  appointed  ; New 
York  was  designated  as  the  seat  of  its  operations,  and  other  meas- 
ures necessary  to  its  success  were  planned  and  adopted. 

The  transfer  to  the  Board  from  the  Presbyterian  Missionary 
Society  embraced,  among  others,  four  stations  in  Northern  India,  viz., 
Lodiana,  Sabathu,  Saharanpur  and  Allahabad.  To  these  have  since 
been  added  eleven  others,  an  average  increase  of  more  than  one  every 
second  year.  These  stations  were  formed  at  intermediate  points  on 
the  Granges  and  Jumna,  and  farther  to  the  north  in  the  Punjab,  and 
beyond  the  Indus.  The  distance  between  the  lowest  and  the  north- 
ernmost station  is  about  900  miles,  and  the  surrounding  country  teems 
with  a population  of  more  than  thirty  millions  of  souls. 

Of  the  early  laborers  then  in  that  field  there  remain  on  the 
ground.  Rev.  John  Newt»n  and  Mrs.  Newton,  Rev.  James  R.  Campbell 
and  Mrs.  Campbell.  Including  these  and  their  associates,  over  ninety 
missionaries,  male  and  female,  have  been  sent  out  to  India  by  our  Board 
during  these  twenty  years,  of  whom  about  one  half  were  ordained 
ministers.  Some  of  these,  after  contending  for  a longer  or  shorter 
period  with  failing  health,  have  been  obliged  to  return  home  and 
find  employment  in  other,  though  less  coveted,  portions  of  our 
Lord’s  vineyard.  Some  have  found  their  graves  upon  the  hot  plains 
of  their  adopted  soil,  or  among  its  mountain  ranges.  Some  will 
hear  the  last  trump  from  the  ocean’s  depths  ; and  some  have  “ gone 
under  the  altar  where  are  the  souls  of  them  that  were  slain  for  the 
word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  which  they  held.” 

Last  May  the  number  of  our  foreign  missionaries  in  India  was 
forty-seven.  To  this  force  may  be  added  two  ordained  native 
ministers,  two  native  licentiates,  and  upwards  of  fifty  other  native 
assistants,  some  of  whom  are  catechists  under  the  care  of  Pres- 
bytery and  teaching  with  Presbyterial  license.  To  keep  the 
machinery  of  our  operations  in  motion,  with  the  force  from  time  to 
time  engaged,  has  cost  the  Board  in  twenty  years  nearly  $900,000. 
The  average  annual  expense  of  these  missions  is  $60,000,  or  nearly 
one  half  the  average  receipts  from  the  churches. 

Nothern  India,  then,  is  the  great  missionary  field  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  If  a blow  like  that  occasioned  by  the  sepoy  mutiny 


6 


falls  upon  us,  it  affects  us  more  vitally  than  if  it  came  on  any  other 
portion  of  the  heathen  world. 

It  is  not  possible  at  this  time  to  measure  the  extent  of  pecuniary 
loss  sustained  by  the  Board  in  this  mutiny.  We  know  that  six  of 
our  fifteen  stations  have  been  pillaged  and  burned  ; viz.,  Lodiana, 
Agra,  Mynpurie,  Futtehgurh,  Futtchpore,  and  Allahabad.  At  these 
there  has  been  destroyed  a large  amount  of  property.  Precise  infor- 
mation as  to  the  particulars  of  this  loss  has  not  yet  in  all  cases  been 
received  ; but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  embraces  nine 
churches,  thirteen  dwelling  houses,  three  high  school  buildings,  two 
printing  establishments,  with  four  presses,  type  foundries,  binderies, 
and  depositories  containing  ten  millions  of  pages  of  sacred  truth  and 
seven  fonts  of  type,  with  the  matrices  of  the  alphabets  of  several 
languages  and  dialects  spoken  in  India  ; also  the  families  belonging 
to  these  stations,  have  lost  nearly  all  tlieir  private  property. 

Would  that  the  catalogue  of  distressing  events  ended  here,  with- 
out the  additional  record  of  bodily  and  mental  sufferings.  There 
have  been  alarms  by  day  and  by  night — sudden  flights  to  places  of 
refuge — an  abiding  consciousness  of  danger  from  those  professing 
the  sincerest  friendship.  We  cannot  realise  the  mental  torture  that 
has  been  endured  for  many  days  together,  and  even  for  Aveeks  ; and 
then  those  sights  of  rapine  and  murder  I need  not  detail.  They 
have  been  common  to  the  whole  European  community,  and  the  civil- 
ized Avorld  has  read  them  with  utter  amazement. 

Our  native  Christians  have  largely  shared  in  these  trials.  Some, 
we  fear,  have  suffered  martyrdom  ; others  have  endured  cruel  tor- 
tures, and  many  are  now  scattered  like  sheep  without  a shepherd, 
and  for  these  the  missionaries  feel  a painful  solicitude.  The  experi- 
ence of  your  fellow  Presbyter,  Rev.  Gopeenath  Xundy,  may  illustrate 
some  of  these  trials,  and  it  will  heighten  the  interest  yon  take  in 
this  native  brother  to  know  that  one  of  your  own  body  now  present 
officiated  at  his  ordination  by  the  laying  on  of  hands.  [^See  Mr. 
Nundy's  Journal  in  the  November  number  of  the  Foreign  Missionary, 
page  188.] 

Alas  ! that  our  sympathies  must  yet  be  more  deeply  moved  by 
the  recital  of  events  that  have  brought  mourning  to  our  own  home  cir- 
cles. There  are  witnesses  for  Jesus,  with  whose  faces  we  have  been 
familiar,  who  went  as  our  representatives  to  that  land  of  darkness 
and  have  sealed  their  testimony  with  their  blood. 

Rev,  John  E.  Freeman  and  wife,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Elizabeth- 


6 


f 


town,  sailed  for  India  nineteen  years  ago,  and  after  ten  years  of 
missionary  labor,  Mrs.  Freeman  was  called  to  her  rest.  Their  two 
children,  a son  and  daughter,  are  in  this  country  receiving  their  ed- 
ucation. The  latter  is  a deaf  mute,  and  this  infirmity  has  given  to 
the  State  of  New  Jersey  the  honor  of  becoming  her  foster-parent, 
so  far  as  to  sustain  her  in  the  deaf  and  dumb  asylum  in  New  York. 
She  and  her  brother  arc  also  upon  the  funds  of  the  Board — a blessed 
union,  this,  of  church  and  state,  in  rearing  an  orphan  girl,  who  is 
giving  it  the  sanction  of  a sweet  development  of  mind  and  heart. 
Mr.  Freeman  visited  his  native  land  in  1850,  and»returned  to  India 
in  the  fall  of  1852,  having  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Vi’edenburgh,  of 
Elizabeth,  New  Jersey. 

Rev.  David  E.  Campbell,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Alleghany,  and  wife, 
sailed  for  India  in  the  summer  of  1850.  Two  children  were  with  them 
at  Futtehgurh,  and  a third  child — a little  boy— is  now  at  Landour,  a 
place  of  retreat  in  the  hills.  . 

Rev.  Albert  O.  Johnson  and  wife,  also  of  the  Presbytery  of  Alle- 
ghany, left  this  country  in  1855,  and  Rev.  Robert  McMullin  and 
wife,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  during  the  last  year. 

These  four  brethren  were  stationed  at  Futtehgurh,  on  the  river 
Ganges,  about  200  miles  north  of  Allahabad.  At  this  station  was 
a church  organization  of  fifty-nine  communicants,  of  whom  eight 
were  added  last  year  ; a new  church  building  finished  in  the  spring  ; 
an  orphan  asylum,  the  children  of  which  were  taught  weaving  and 
tent  making  ; a Christian  village  which  had  grown  out  of  this  asy- 
lum, and  schools  of  all  grades  numbering  475  scholars,  from  the 
small  children  of  the  village  to  theological  students. 

Happily  and  successfully  those  missionaries  were  doing  their 
work  when  this  storm  of  mutiny  burst  upon  them.  Tliey  had  cause 
for  alarm  from  the  very  first,  for  there  were  no  European  troops  at 
the  place,  and  all  around  were  rumours  of  fearful  massacres.  But 
their  faith  and  trust  in  the  merits  of  an  Almighty  Saviour  failed  not. 
Their  lives  were  in  His  hands,  and  they  were  glad  to  leave  them 
there.  The  safety  of  their  native  brethren  and  of  the  Ark  of  God 
in  the  land,  gave  them  as  many  anxious  thoughts  as  their  own. 
“ What  is  to  become  of  us  and  of  the  Lord’s  work  in  this  land,”  writes 
Mr.  McMullin,  „ we  cannot  tell,  but  He  reigncth,  and  in  Him  will  we 
rejoice.”  Again,  “ We  cannot  but  be  anxious  both  for  ourselves,  the 
native  brethren  here,  and  God’s  work  in  this  land.”  “ Although  wc 
may  be  called  upon  to  part  with  life  for  Christ  and  his  cause,”  writes 


Mrs.  Johnson,  “ may  wc  not  glorify  Gotl  more  by  our  deaths  than  by 
our  lives  ? Each  day  we  look  upon  as  our  last  upon  earth  ; but  Oh  ! 
how  delightful  arc  our  seasons  of  prayer,  together  imploring  the 
care  and  protection  of  God,  who  alone  can  save  us.”  “ We  have  no 
place  to  flee  to  for  shelter,”  writes  Mrs.  Freeman,  “|but  under  the 
covert  of  Uis  wings,  and  there  wc  are  safe.  Not  but  that  he  may 
Rufler  our  bodies  to  be  slain,  and  if  he  does,  we  know  that  he  has 
wise  reasons  for  it.  I sometimes  think  our  deaths  would  do  more 
good  than  we  would  do  in  all  our  lives  ; if  so,  Ilis  will  be  done. 
Should  I be  called  to  lay  down  my  life  do  not  grieve,  dear  sister,  that 
I came  here,  for  most  joyfully  will  I die  for  Him  who  laid  down  Ilis 
life  for  me.”  What  a precious  legacy  is  this  dying  testimony  to  sur- 
viving friends,  and  to  the  Church  of  God.  Oh  ! methinks  if  we  could 
have  been  of  that  praying  circle  which  nightly  assembled,  and  where 
they  had  “ sweet  precious  times,”  we  would  desire  to  be  of  no  other 
circle  when  their  emancipated  spirits  ascended,  it  may  be,  from  mu- 
tilated bodies. 

Of  their  actual  death  we  have  not  heard.  On  the  2d  of  June 
they  leave  Futtehgurh,  and,  before  reaching  Cawnpore,  are  the  pris- 
oners of  Neua  Sahib,  the  Prince  of  Bithoor.  We  know  the  cruelty 
and  perfidy  practised  by  this  monster  a few  days  thereafter,  when 
the  garrison  at  Cawnpore  surrendered  ; we  know  enough  to  inter- 
pret the  meaning  of  that  absence  of  all  intelligence  from  the  2d  of 
June  to  the  latest  dates  from  India.  Alas  ! that  we  must  surrender 
every  reasonable  hope  of  their  safety.  Freeman,  and  Campbell,  and 
Johnson,  and  McMullin,  and  their  beloved  companions,  and  the  two 
little  ones  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Campbell,  have  found  a martyr’s  death  ! 

Nena  Sahib — and  I need  use  no  epithet  to  paint  his  character, 
that  Maharatta  name  will  hereafter  be  a word  of  significance  which 
no  English  can  express — Nena  Saliib  is  an  educated  East  India 
gentleman,  a man  of  pleasing*  address  and  polished  manners,  the 
true  type  of  Anglo-Indian  civilization.  He  was  trained  in  the  schools 
and  college  established  by  the  government,  and  had  every  advan- 
tage of  cultivating  such  a mind  and  heart  as  it  is  their  province  to 
form.  Here  the  Koran  and  Shasters  are  text-books,  taught  by  pro- 
fessors of  oriental  literature.  From  these  institutions  every  book 
that  gives  any  favorable  notice  of  Christianity  is  carefully  excluded. 
The  Bible  is  not  permitted  upon  their  library  shelves,  even  as  a curi- 
ous compilation  of  wise  or  unwise  sayings,  of  true  or  untrue  histo- 
ry. By  possibility,  its  wonder-working,  softening  influence  might 


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touch  the  tender  Hindu  or  Mohammedan  mind,  and  thus  defeat  the 
British  policy  of  non-interference  in  matters  of  religion.  Behold 
the  product  of  that  policy  in  Nena  Sahib,  the  deceiver  and  murderer 
of  scores  of  England’s  confiding  sons  and  daughters,  the  murderer 
of  our  beloved  missionaries,  their  wives  and  little  ones. 

But  let  us  not  indulge  in  unkind,  accusing  words  in  this  sad  hour. 
England  will  see  her  fault  in  this,  as  also  in  that  other  folly,  the 
yielding  to  the  absurd  demands  of  caste.  Oh  ! what  a burden  will 
the  suppression  of  this  superstition  roll  from  the  minds  of  those  who 
are  devising  plans  for  the  amelioration  of  the  East.  What  shall  we 
do  with  Hindu  converts  ? has  been  the  anxious  inquiry,  to  which 
no  answer  has  been  returned.  You  may  at  first  employ  them  about 
the  mission  premises  as  servants,  teachers,  colporters,  printers,  &c. 
You  may,  as  was  the  case  at  Futtehgurh,  form  a Christian  village 
where  families  may  dwell  apart,  and  give  them  employment  in  a tent 
making  and  weaving  establishment ; but  the  burden  grows  upon 
you,  and  the  missionary  is  encumbered  with  secular  duties  requiring 
business  tact  and  habits,  only  consistent  with  his  sacred  calling 
from  the  absolute  necessities  of  the  case. 

But  let  this  oppressive  incubus  of  caste  be  crushed  out,  and  our 
Christian  converts  can  go  among  their  heathen  neighbors,  associate 
and  labor  with  them,  and  thus  secure  their  own  independent  support 
and  a reforming  influence  over  the  people. 

While  we  thus  hope  that  good  may  grow  out  of  these  troubles  from 
the  civil  power,  may  we  not  also  hope  that  our  Church  will  find  in 
this  afflictive  Providence  to  her,  an  admonition  and  a warning  that 
she  will  heed  ? Oh  ! have  we  done  our  duty  to  India  ? Hear  a sin- 
gle fact.  In  the  month  of  P’ebruary  last,  the  Lodiana  Mission  issued 
a circular  to  the  churches  at  home,  making  an  affecting  appeal  for 
seven  new  missionaries,  to  come  as  fast  as  the  swiftest  ships  could 
bi-ing  them,  and  fill  the  places  that  were  vacant  within  their  bounds, 
or  might  soon  become  vacant  by  the  dispensations  of  Providence. 
They  made  the  case  so  plain,  that  no  man  wortliy  of  this  high  com- 
mission could  gainsay  or  resist  it,  and  yet  there  was  no  response. 
In  all  the  previous  history  of  the  Board  there  has  not  been  such  a 
dearth  of  missionary  candidates  for  India,  as  during  the  past  year. 
I may  add  that  this  call  was  not  an  extraordinary  one.  The  addition 
of  seven  new  men  is  but  continuing  the  average  increase  of  our 
force  there,  which  has  been  about  two  each  year.  Since  my  connec- 
tion with  this  Board,  now  just  seven  years,  our  own  church  has  sent 


9 


out  but  one  a year.  Exclusive  of  tlie  Reformed  Presbyterian  breth- 
ren, only  seven  have  gone  since  the  fall  of  1850.  It  is  impossible  long 
to  retain  the  fifteen  stations  of  the  Board,  to  say  nothing  of  multiply- 
ing them,  with  such  meagre  recruits.  Surely  we  have  CAUse  to  hum- 
ble ourselves,  and  “pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  would  send 
forth  laborers  into  his  harvest.” 

But  you  may  ask.  Are  you  prepared  to  furnish  the  means  for  these 
desired  recruits?  I answer,  no — but  add,  that  within  my  knowledge, 
no  party  that  was  ready  to  go  abroad,  has  been  hindered  a single 
day  for  want  of  means.  And  I believe,  that  what  has  been,  will  be. 
God  seems  to  sustain  this  work  as  He  sustains  the  Christian  in  his 
daily  walk.  There  is  special  grace  for  special  exigencies.  Should 
seven  men  for  Lodiana,  and  four  for  Futtehgurh  rise  up  before  the 
face  of  the  Churcli,  and  ask  to  be  sent  thither,  in  the  light  of  past 
experience  I should  say,  the  Church  will  send  them. 

But  before  we  provide  for  new  missionaries,  we  have  an  important 
duty  to  perform  to  those  who  are  already  on  the  ground.  Several 
families  who  were  obliged  to  fly  from  their  homes,  and  who  escaped 
with  their  lives,  saved  nothing  but  the  clothes  they  had  on.  In 
addition  to  their  regular  salaries,  these  should  be  furnished  with 
new  outfits.  The  Committee  could  not  do  less  than  send  at  once 
to  each  destitute  family  the  outfit  allowance  of  a man  and  wife 
On  first  going  abroad.  Then,  as  soon  as  practicable,  they  should 
have  the  means  of  providing  themselves  with  suitable  houses. 
Gradually  the  new  church,  school,  press,  and  other  appurtenances  of 
a Mission  will  be  required.  But  many  things  must  be  done  at  once, 
which  will  press  heavily  upon  the  funds  of  the  Board,  and  require 
larger  receipts  than  those  of  former  years. 

It  was  a wise  measure  to  make  New  York  the  seat  of  the  opera- 
tions of  our  Board.  With  transactions  in  different  parts  of  the 
w'orld,  it  is  highly  important  that  we  should  ’be  at  that  commercial 
centre.  There,  too,  we  have  found  men,  without  whose  noble  gifts 
and  encouraging  counsels  the  cause  would  have  languished  where 
it  has  made  great  advance.  How  manj'  scores  of  Christian  mer- 
chants might  have,  done,  might  now  do,  as  well  as  these?  If  a 
tithe  of  the  amouilt  of  losses,  sustained  during  the  last  six  weeks 
by  Christian  men  of  business,  had  been  devoted  during  the  year  to 
objects  of  benevolence,  what  overflowing  treasuries  we  should  have, 
and  Avhat  infinite  gains  would  accrue  to  them  and  those  whom  they 
sought  to  benefit ! We  hope  that  the  contributions  in  our  great 


10 


metropolis  will  not  fall  off,  even  though  property  values  there  have 
greatly  depreciated.  But  then  the  wealth  of  our  Church  is  not  in 
one  or  in  several  of  our  great  cities,  any  more  than  is  its  power  or 
its  piety. 

By  wealth*  of  the  Church  I mean  a combination  of  worldly  pros- 
perity, and  a disposition  to  use  it  for  the  glory  of  God.  The  miser  - 
who  starves  himself  over  his  filled  coffers  is  a poor  man.  The 
church  that  has  the  key  of  selfishness  turned  upon  the  untold  treas- 
ures of  her  members  is  a poor  church.  There  is  no  denomination 
of  Christians,  no  class  of  men  in  this  country  that  enjoys,  in  proportion 
to  numbers,  so  gi'eat  a share  of  this  world’s  goods  as  the  members 
and  adherents  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Their  acknowledged  indus- 
try, high  principle  and  honesty,  secure  to  them  this  superiority.  The 
wealth  of  our  church,  then,  lies  in  the  great  body  of  the  people,  for 
here  piety  and  prosperity  are  combined  to  a greater  extent  than  in 
any  particular  portion  of  our  Zion.  And  hence  we  must  look  to  the 
Church  at  large,  for  the  means  of  supplying  our  special  needs  and 
carrying  on  our  general  operations. 

We  think^we  have  pursued  a right  course  in  publishing  a record 
of  the  yearly  conrtibutions  of  each  Synod  and  Presbytery  and 
Church  within  our  bounds.  These  figures  tell  their  own  story.  It 
is  a lamentable  one — but  so  it  is,  that  not  fifty  cents  a year  were  con- 
tributed, on  the  average,  by  the  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  • 
to  its  own  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  during  the  last  year.  Some 
gave  liberally,  but  many  thousands  gave  not  one  cent. 

If  the  minister  of  the  poorest  parish  within  the  bounds  of  this 
Synod,  should  inquire  of  any  member  of  his  church,  (not  an  abso- 
lute pauper,)  Can  you,  in  view  of  the  great  distresses  that  have  come 
upon  our  brothers  and  sisters  in  India,  and  of  the  other  pressing  wants 
of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  so  economise  in  your  expenses,  as 
to  lay  by  in  store  for  these,  two  cents  a week  ? the  reply  would 
doubtless  be  “Most  certainly  ; but  then,  how  could  such  a small  sum 
further  so  great  an  object  ?”  It  may  be  true  that  two  cents  would 
not  be  sensibly  felt  in  the  Treasury,  but  the  two  cents  a week,  would 
be  a never-failing  source  of  supply,  and  if  contributed  generally, 
would  meet  all  demands  upon  it. 

The  seventh  day  is  the  periodic  season  for  laying  by,  as  the  Lord 
has  prospered  us,  just  as  surely  as  the  seventh’ day  is  the  periodic 
season  for  resting  from  all  our  works. 

A gentleman  from  the  West  presented  to  Kossutli,  in  his  rcccp- 


11 


tion  room  in  New  York,  (wlicrc  tlie  ostentations  were  vj'inf?  with 
each  other  in  the  amount  of  tlieir  munificent  gifts,)  a gold  dollar,  as 
a representative  of  the  people’s  contribution  to  the  great  fund  he 
was  raising  for  Hungary.  Kossuth  caught  at  the  suggestion  at 
once,  and  gratefully  accepted  the  gold  dollar  as  the  beginning  of 
the  million  similar  sums  that  he  hoperl  to  receive. 

Let  there  be  an  average  contribution  of  two  cents  a week — a dol- 
lar a year — from  each 'of  the  250,000  communicants  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church  for  its  Foreign  Board,  and  we  can  meet  all  the  ordi- 
nary and  extraotdinSry  expenses  of  the  year,  and  send  out  all  the 
missionaries  that  the  brethren  in  India  have  asked  for. 

Pardon  me  if,  in  this  connection,  I make  another  suggestion.  On 
the  first  ^londay  in  January  last,  in  one  of  our  churches  the  monthly 
concert  meeting  was  omitted,  to  afford  the  Tiembers  an  opportunity  to 
attend  a union  meeting  elsewhere.  Not  wishing,  however,  to  omit  the 
collection,  the  pastor  arranged  to  have  it  taken  in  the  church  on 
the  Sabbath — and  the  result  was  a sum  much  larger  than  usual. 
This  suggested  to  him  the  expediency  of  affording  the  whole  con- 
gregation the  opportunity  of  contributing  to  this  object,  instead  of 
confining  it,  as  formerly,  to  the  limited  circle  at  the  prayer  meeting. 
In  this  way,  the  average  of  one  dollar  a year  promises  to  be  real- 
ised, and  when  we  add  to  this  the  annual  and  Sabbath-school  collec- 
tions, most  gratifying  results  will  be  seen  ; and  it  will  be  further 
found,  that  no  other  cause  statedly  coming  before  that  people  suffers 
in  the  least  degree  from  this  monthly  Sabbath  morning’s  collection 
for  Foreign  Missions. 

But  I should  not  trespass  further.  It  has  been  my  purpose  simply 
to  state  a few  facts  in  connection  with  the  operations  and  reverses 
of  our  Board  during  the  past  year.  It  is  m6re  appropriate  that  oth- 
ers improve  these  solemn  providences  for  the  increase  of  our  faith, 
and  for  our  incitement  to  duty.  Most  truly  is  the  work  of  missions 
a work  of  faith.  On  every  side  of  us  there  is  nought  but  gloom 
and  despondency.  As  our  dear  brother  McMullin  remarks,  in  one  of 
his  dj'ing  epistles  : “ This  dark  cloud  may  pass  over  us  without 
harm,  but  it  seems  very  dark  just  now.”  A few  days  thereafter  the 
clear  light  appeared  to  him.  He  soared  above  the  storm,  and  read 
the  meaning  of  these  afflictive  dispensations.  But  clouds  and 
darkness  are  round  about  us.  It  is  very  dark  just  now.  What  hope 
is  there  of  carrying  on  this  great  warfare  with  Satan  in  India,  when 
no  recruits  come  to  fill  up  our  failing  ranks  ? The  English  army  before 


12 


the  walls  of  Delhi  may  as  well  hope  to  maintain  their  position  without 
reinforcements,  as  for  our  missionaries  in  India  to  retain  their  sta- 
tions, unless  speedily  strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  reinforcements 
to  them.  Is  there  no  sentiment  in  the  hearts  of  our  young  breth- 
ren at  home,  to  which  we  can  appeal  in  this  day  of  trial  and  emer- 
gency? Are  you  indifferent  to  the  relative  wants  of  our  beloved 
Zion,  now  shorn  in  that  distant  field  of  so  much  of  her  beauty  and 
her  strength  ? Have  you  traced  out  the  respective  geograpliical 
limits,  and  numbered  the  populations  included  therein, — have  you 
compared  the  statistical  tables  of  the  Synod  l»f  North  India  and 
the  Synod  of  New  Jersey  ? To  which  portion  of  the  Master’s  vine- 
yard would  you  apply  the  language  of  the  prophet,  “ Put  ye  in  the 
sickle,  for  the  harvest  is  ripe  ; come  get  you  down  ; for  the  press  is 
full,  the  fats  overflow  ; for  their  wickedness  is  great.  Multitudes, 
multitudes  in  the  valley  of  decision ; for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  near 
in  the  valley  of  decision.” 

It  is  very  dark  just  now  in  regard  to  the  means  necessary  to  carry 
on  this  missionai’y  work. 

If  the  Son  of  Man  were  now  to  appear,  would  he  find  faith  on  the 
earth?  Not  surely  in  the  marts  of  commerce.  The  panic  which  is 
deranging  every  thing  there,  is  simply  a w'ant  of  confidence  in  man 
and  not  in  the  material  wealth  of  the  country  ; for  the  granaries  of 
thirty  millions  of  people  were  never  fuller  or  richer  than  they  are 
now.  But  man  has  no  faith  in  man,  and  because  of  this,  the  whole 
mercantile  community,  as  far  as  the  elective  wires  extend,  simul- 
taneously as  it  were,  plunges  into  insolvency  and  bankruptcy. 

Is  the  Church  to.  go  down  in  this  wreck  ? Are  her  enterprises  of 
benevolence  to  be  stopped,  because  God  in  his  wise  Providence  has 
taken  off  the  chariot  wheels  of  those  who  were  rushing  madly  after 
wealth  ? Then  has  God  in  these  judgments  spoken  to  his  people 
and  they  heed  it  not.  The  cry  of  retrenchment  is  raised,  and  1 fear 
the  process  will  begin  where  it  ought  to  end.  Oh  I it  is  very  dark 
just  here. 

Your  Boards  of  Missions  cannot  suspend.  The  protest  of 
your  Foreign  Board  would  so  destroy  its  credit  in  the  cities  of  the 
old  world,  as  to  reciuire  years  to  regain  it,  and  would  moreover 
enhance  greatly  the  cost  of  sustaining  tlie  missions.  The  bills  of 
its  treasurer,  with  no  other  endorser  than  a poor  missionaiy,  are  in 
India  and  perhaps  in  Cliina  equal  to  any  banker’s  signature  in  Lo7i- 
don  or  New  York,  and  if  confidence  in  the  Board  were  once  sliakcn, 


13 


the  result  would  be  most  disastrous.  No,  wo  cannot  suspend,  and 
because  we  cannot,  the  darkness  just  now  may  he  fell. 

But  why  should  wc  despond  ? llow  can  panics  affect  a Church 
unless  its  confidence  is  in  man?  Wc  believe  in  God,  and  therefore 
should  not  fear.  We  will  not  intermit  the  prayer  uttered  before  this 
• day  of  revulsion.  “Hold  ihon  me  up,  and  I shall  be  sustained.” 

Our  blessed  Master,  to  whom  bclongcth  the  silver  and  the  gold,  and 
the  cattle  upon  a thousand  hills,  may  not  open  the  heart  of  the 
rich  merchant  of  the  city,  or  the  no  less  wealthy  farmer  of  the  coun- 
try, but  he  will  aj)pear  to  others  and  bless  them  with  the  precious 
grace  of  giving.  Tliere  are  those  who  pray  for  the  enlargement  of 
the  borders  of  Zion.  There  are  those  who  pray  in  faith  : “ Thy 
kingdom  come,”  and  in  this  prayer  there  is  not  only  the  uttered 
voice  and  the  uplifted  eyes,  but  also  the  extended  hand.  Oh  I I 
have  known  instances  of  self-denial  that  would  have  made  an  old 
publican  at  the  receipt  of  custom,  weep.  We  will  go  with  the  ur- 
gent claims  of  our  Master  to  such,  will  enter  their  lonely  dwellings 
and  receive  their  willing  offerings.  If  necessity  is  laid  upon  us, 
sooner  than  stay  our  hands  in  this  blessed  work,  we  will  ask  to 
share  with  the  poor  widow  and  her  famished  son,  the  little  oil  in  her 
cruise  and  her  handful  of  meal. 

Thus  will  we  trust  God  and  God’s  people  and  go  forward.  There 
is  work  for  us  in  India.  We  have  launched  our  church  there,  com- 
plete in  all  her  equipments  ; but  she  is  now  like  a ship  tempest-tost 
in  the  very  trough  of  the  sea.  Shall  we  throw  out  disheartening 
signals  to  the  brave  men  upon  her  decks  ? Shall  we  not  i-ather 
send  encouraging  words  across  the  waters  ? 

“ Let  the  church  pray  for  us,”  is  their  united,  repeated,  and  urgent 
request.  If  praj^er  is  offered  noio,  it  may  cheer  them  now.  We  need 
no  cable  to  span  these  oceans  to  convey  speedy  intelligence  of  what 
we  are  doing.  The  mysterious  influence  will  flash  along  the  vault 
of  heaven,  and  while  we  are  yet  speaking  they  may  hear  the  angel’s  * 
w’hisper,  “ The  end  of  these  desolations  has  come,  and  the  command- 
ment has  gone  forth  to  restore  and  build.” 

the  blessing  of  God  on  England’s  arms,  our  ship  will  outride 
this  storm.  She  is  staunch  and  strong — her  keel  is  of  the.  living 
oak.  But  we  must  renew  her  tattered  sails,  refit  her  broken  spars, 
repair  her  bulwarks,  and  above  all,  supplyd;he  pl.aces  of  those  lost 
companions — lost  only  because  the  most  exposed. 

Yes,  we  will  hold  on  to  India.  We  have  now  a special  mission 


14 


there,  such  as  we  never  had  before.  England  will  avenge  the  blood 
of  her  murdered  children,  and  our  Church  too  should  take  its  satis- 
faction for  the  blood  of  hers.  Let  it  be  that  requital  which  its  di- 
vine Head  enjoined  towards  His  own  murderers,  to  preach  to  them 
the  gospel  of  forgiveness. 

India  is  now  the  Jerusalem  of  our  Church.  There  her  enemies  have 
become  her  persecutors,  and  for  a season  have  triumphed.  We  can 
now,  as  we  never  could  before,  give  a practical  interpretation  of  the 
great  commission  “ to  jn’each  repentance  and  forgiveness  of  sins  to 
all  nations,  leginning  at  Jerusalem."  We  will  go  there  and  repair  the 
old  wastes.  We  will  sit  down  by  the  well  of  Cawnpore,  filled  with 
the  bodies  of  the  slain,  and  talk  with  that  misguided  people  as  Jesus 
talked  with  the  woman  at  Sychar.  We  will  rear  upon  the  site  of 
the  Bithoor  massacre  a church  of  the  Sepulchre.  Yes,  the  mangled 
remains  of  our  dear  brothers  and  sisters  shall  have  a monument — 
no  cold  dead  marble — but  a living  temple,  whither  the  tribes  go  up — 
where  the  dark-minded  Hindu  and  fierce  Mohammedan,  the  Brahman 
and  Sudra,  with  characters  all  changed,  shall  sit  together  and  com- 
mune together  over  the  emblems  of  a Saviour’s  dying  love. 

India  will  hereafter  be  the  favorite  field  of  missionary  labor.  The 
seed  of  martyrdom  has  been  sown,  and  an  abundant  harvest  is  in 
store  for  whoever  may  enter  upon  the  work.  Within  the  last  four 
years,  at  least  two  other  sister  bodies,  and  of  these  one  of  tho 
largest  denominations  in  America,  have  gone  where  before  our 
church  had  almost  the  monopoly  of  missionary  labor.  We  thank 
God  for  it,  and  will  again  rejoice  at  that  success  which  we  feel 
assured  will  hereafter  be  theirs. 

India  will  need  no  other  revolution  than  that  through  which  she 
is  now  passing,  as  the  harbinger  of  her  spii'itual  regeneration.  To 
human  view  this  one  seemed  necessary  ; for  how  could  Christianity 
be  engrafted  upon  Mohammedan  bigotry  and  Hindu  caste,  both 
countenanced  by  a Christian  goveniment  ? 

Yes  the  field  is  white  and  ready  to  the  harvest.  Before  our  reap- 
ers can  reach  it,  the  land  will  be  at  peace  and  we  may  begin  to 
shout  tho  harvest  home. 

Oil  ! my  brethren,  though  this  day  be  dark,  very  dark,  be  not 
cast  down.  Lift  up  your  heads — yea,  lift  them  up,  until  your  C3'cs 
get  above  the  storm  cloud,  and  3’ou  see  in  the  clear  sun  light,  the  fu- 
ture realized  ; not  indeed  with  the  glorified  vision  of  those  beloved 
ones  who  can  look  down  from  empyrean  thrones,  but  as  the  ejro  of 


15 


faith  in  mortal  man  may  see  it.  Behold  ! India’s  mingled  races, 
swelling  from  her  coral  strands,  her  Himalaya  tops  and  verdant 
plains,  that  song  that  shall  then  employ  all  nations  : 

" ’Tis  done,  see  heavenly  glory  shines, 

It  falls  on  men  in  all  earth’s  climes. 

Millennial  day  has  come  ; 

And  Afric’s  sons  from  Calabar, 

And  nations  near  and  distant  far. 

Seek  one  eternal  home. 

The  saints  on  earth  with  saints  above  exulting  sing, 

Earth’s  woes  and  miseries  arc  past ; 

The  promised  joy  is  given  at  last, 

’Tis  now  the  blissful  reign  of  our  great  Saviour-King.” 


